CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland men's outdoor track and field team, led by three event victories, finished in third place out of 41 schools at the second annual All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Outdoor Championships Wednesday and Thursday at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex.

Brockport won a tightly contested battle for the team crown with 76.5 points, followed by Rowan with 75.5 points and Cortland with 71. Stevenson (50) and Stevens Institute (47) rounded out the top five.

Micah Assibey-Bonsu (Central Islip) won the triple jump with a distance of 14.94 meters (49' 0.25"), and Cortland grabbed three of the top four spots in the event as C.J. White (Middletown) placed third (14.76 meters/48' 5.25") and Wendell Brand (Sleepy Hollow) was fourth (14.42 meters/47' 3.75"). David Bernstein (Norwich) won the hammer throw with a toss of 56.01 meters (183' 9") and Nolan Vest (Coram/Longwood) took top honors in the 1,500 meters (3:54.31).

Jose Cruz (Ellenville) was the runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with his time of 9:45.85. The 4x800-meter relay squad of James Forte (Merrick/Sanford H. Calhoun), Vest, Chris Moore (Neponsit/Avon Old Farms) and Richard Samuels (Wallkill) finished in third place in 7:49.81.

In addition to Brand in the triple jump, the Red Dragons also received fourth-place finishes from Storm Malone (Highland) in the 110-meter hurdles (14.77, 14.50 prelims) and Samuels in the 800 meters (1:54.78). Cortland picked up three seventh-place performances – Connor Lewis (Glen Ridge) in the 400-meter dash (49.64), Austen Johnson (Jamestown) in the 400-meter hurdles (55.12), and the 4x100-meter relay of Peyton Lalone (Ogdensburg/Ogdensburg Free Academy), Liam Joyce (Dryden), Brent DiVittorio (Brewster) and Chjuvaughn Cameron (Riverhead) (42.18).

The top eight finishers in each individual event and top three teams in each relay were recognized with medals on the podium stand.

The NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held May 23-25 in Geneva, Ohio. The top 22 women and 20 men in each individual event, including the decathlon and heptathlon, respectively, as well as the top 16 relay teams for both genders, will qualify for nationals.

Cortland men currently sitting in position to qualify for nationals, as of late Thursday evening, were: Assibey-Bonsu (tied fourth, triple jump); White (eighth, triple jump); Dane Sorensen (Warwick/Warwick Valley) (10th, pole vault, from earlier this season); Brand (12th, long jump, from earlier this season); Zach Kashmer (Chili/Churchville-Chili) (12th, decathlon, from earlier this season); Bernstein (13th, hammer throw, from earlier this season); and Malone (15th, 110-meter hurdles). The national field will be announced on NCAA.com on Saturday, May 18.

Complete Results

Coach's Corner - Comments from Head Coach Steve Patrick:

It was a real pleasure to be able to host the 2019 AARTFC Regional Championship meet over these two days.  I'm really proud of what we did as a program and a department to be able to host this, and that only happens with a lot of people pitching in doing a number of thankless jobs!  We had 40 men's and 41 women's team's competing, so it was an awesome couple of days for track and field in Central New York – especially since the weather cooperated and we saw a number of NCAA qualifying performances being achieved here!
 
For our program, Storm Malone running a solid NCAA qualifier was obviously a huge highlight, as were our numerous champions and some big PRs that we saw.  It's great that the women's program can finish in 9th and the men's in 3rd while we were more focused on bigger goals, such as preparing for the NCAA Championships next weekend.
 
This is also a bittersweet moment, as it is saying goodbye to a number of folks who are graduating on Saturday and/or finished with their eligibility: Kai Bryant, Grant Boyd, Harley Buczkowski, Maya Campbell, Ricky Castello, Cole Clemons, Aidan Farrell, Nicole Hallenbeck, Tyler Hochadel, Austen Johnson, Gillian Lee, Storm Malone, Brandon Nugent, and C.J. White are all finishing up with the program this semester – and it's very sad to see them go!  These young women and men have invested a great deal of time and effort into supporting our program, and we are all better for them having chosen to be a part of us.  They have set a high standard for our underclassmen/women to emulate moving forward!